Changing climate imperils global food and water supplies, new U.N. study finds
Agriculture and other land use accounts for 23 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
by Brady Dennis | Aug 8 2019 | Washington Post
The world cannot avoid the worst impacts of climate change without making serious changes to the ways humans grow food, raise livestock and manage forests, according to a landmark study Thursday from an international group of scientists.
The sprawling report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) examines how land use around the world contributes to the warming of Earth’s atmosphere. But the report also details how climate change is already threatening food and water supplies for humans: turning arable land to desert; degrading soil; and increasing the threat of droughts, floods and other extreme weather that can wreak havoc on crops.
It makes clear that although fossil fuel-burning power plants and automobile tailpipes are the largest drivers of climate change, activities such as agriculture and forestry account for an estimated 23 percent of total human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
“We already knew that humanity’s over-exploitation of the Earth’s lands is a key driver of climate change, and that we need to take urgent, ambitious action to address these issues,” Jennifer Tabola, director for global climate strategy at the Nature Conservancy, said in a statement. “We have a choice: do we balance the needs of human development and nature, or do we sleepwalk into a future of failing farmlands, eroding soil, collapsing ecosystems and dwindling food resources?”
Four years ago in Paris, world leaders agreed to take aggressive action to keep global warming to “well below” 2 degree Celsius, compared with pre-industrial levels. Their aspiration was to limit warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (the world has already warmed 1 degree).
But Thursday’s report, which includes the work of 107 experts from 52 countries, underscores that meeting those goals will require fundamental changes not only to the transportation and energy sectors, but also by cutting emissions from agriculture and deforestation — all while feeding growing populations.dd
Last fall, IPCC scientists found that nations will need to take “unprecedented” actions to cut their carbon emissions over the next decade to avoid devastating effects from rising seas, more intense storms and other impacts of climate change.
[The world has just over a decade to get climate change under control, U.N. scientists say]
They also detailed how such a radical transformation would require large swaths of land currently used to produce food to instead be converted to growing trees that store carbon and crops designated for energy use.
“Such large transitions pose profound challenges for sustainable management of the various demands on land for human settlements, food, livestock feed, fibre, bioenergy, carbon storage, biodiversity and other ecosystem services,” the authors wrote at the time.
A significant amount of agricultural emissions comes from livestock — primarily from the belches of cattle. Additionally, while all soils emit some nitrous oxide, soil on farms often emits higher levels because of nitrogen that is added in the form of manure, fertilizers or other material. Meanwhile, deforestation in places such as the Amazon and Indonesia has harmed the ability of forests to retain carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Showing posts with label floods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label floods. Show all posts
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Friday, June 28, 2019
Climate Crisis is Our Third World War -- Requires a Bold Response
The climate crisis is our third world war. It needs a bold response
Joseph Stiglitz | June 4, 2019 | The Guardian
Critics of the Green New Deal ask if we can afford it.
But we can’t afford not to: our civilization is at stake.
Advocates of the Green New Deal say there is great urgency in dealing with the climate crisis and highlight the scale and scope of what is required to combat it. They are right. They use the term “New Deal” to evoke the massive response by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the United States government to the Great Depression. An even better analogy would be the country’s mobilization to fight World War II.
Critics ask, “Can we afford it?” and complain that Green New Deal proponents confound the fight to preserve the planet, to which all right-minded individuals should agree, with a more controversial agenda for societal transformation. On both accounts the critics are wrong.
Yes, we can afford it, with the right fiscal policies and collective will. But more importantly, we must afford it. The climate emergency is our third world war. Our lives and civilization as we know it are at stake, just as they were in the second world war.
When the US was attacked during the second world war no one asked, “Can we afford to fight the war?” It was an existential matter. We could not afford not to fight it. The same goes for the climate crisis. Here, we are already experiencing the direct costs of ignoring the issue – in recent years the country has lost almost 2% of GDP in weather-related disasters, which include floods, hurricanes, and forest fires. The cost to our health from climate-related diseases is just being tabulated, but it, too, will run into the tens of billions of dollars – not to mention the as-yet-uncounted number of lives lost. We will pay for climate breakdown one way or another, so it makes sense to spend money now to reduce emissions rather than wait until later to pay a lot more for the consequences – not just from weather but also from rising sea levels. It’s a cliche, but it’s true: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
The war on the climate emergency, if correctly waged, would actually be good for the economy – just as the second world war set the stage for America’s golden economic era , with the fastest rate of growth in its history amidst shared prosperity. The Green New Deal would stimulate demand, ensuring that all available resources were used; and the transition to the green economy would likely usher in a new boom. Trump’s focus on the industries of the past, like coal, is strangling the much more sensible move to wind and solar power. More jobs by far will be created in renewable energy than will be lost in coal.
Read more at The Guardian
Joseph E Stiglitz is a university professor at Columbia, the 2001 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, a former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, a former chief economist of the World Bank and the author, most recently, of People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent
Joseph Stiglitz | June 4, 2019 | The Guardian
Critics of the Green New Deal ask if we can afford it.
But we can’t afford not to: our civilization is at stake.
Advocates of the Green New Deal say there is great urgency in dealing with the climate crisis and highlight the scale and scope of what is required to combat it. They are right. They use the term “New Deal” to evoke the massive response by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the United States government to the Great Depression. An even better analogy would be the country’s mobilization to fight World War II.
Critics ask, “Can we afford it?” and complain that Green New Deal proponents confound the fight to preserve the planet, to which all right-minded individuals should agree, with a more controversial agenda for societal transformation. On both accounts the critics are wrong.
Yes, we can afford it, with the right fiscal policies and collective will. But more importantly, we must afford it. The climate emergency is our third world war. Our lives and civilization as we know it are at stake, just as they were in the second world war.
When the US was attacked during the second world war no one asked, “Can we afford to fight the war?” It was an existential matter. We could not afford not to fight it. The same goes for the climate crisis. Here, we are already experiencing the direct costs of ignoring the issue – in recent years the country has lost almost 2% of GDP in weather-related disasters, which include floods, hurricanes, and forest fires. The cost to our health from climate-related diseases is just being tabulated, but it, too, will run into the tens of billions of dollars – not to mention the as-yet-uncounted number of lives lost. We will pay for climate breakdown one way or another, so it makes sense to spend money now to reduce emissions rather than wait until later to pay a lot more for the consequences – not just from weather but also from rising sea levels. It’s a cliche, but it’s true: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
The war on the climate emergency, if correctly waged, would actually be good for the economy – just as the second world war set the stage for America’s golden economic era , with the fastest rate of growth in its history amidst shared prosperity. The Green New Deal would stimulate demand, ensuring that all available resources were used; and the transition to the green economy would likely usher in a new boom. Trump’s focus on the industries of the past, like coal, is strangling the much more sensible move to wind and solar power. More jobs by far will be created in renewable energy than will be lost in coal.
Read more at The Guardian
Joseph E Stiglitz is a university professor at Columbia, the 2001 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, a former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, a former chief economist of the World Bank and the author, most recently, of People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent
~ ~ ~
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
New National Climate Assessment of impacts, costs and risks starkly contrasts with Trump Administration's fossil fuel agenda
 |
But Who will Protect the People of the United States? |
Climate Change Puts U.S. Economy and Lives at Risk, and Costs Are Rising, Federal Agencies Warn
The National Climate Assessment describes increasing heat, fire and flood damage. It's a stark contrast to Trump's energy policies and climate claims.
Inside Climate News - 11.23.2018: click here
Unable to Bury Climate Report, Trump & Deniers Launch Assault on the Science
Evidence
and warnings in the National Climate Assessment are a high-stakes
problem for Trump's fossil fuel-friendly agenda, both in politics and in
court. Inside Climate News - 11.30.2018: click here
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Open Discussion: Climate and America’s Migration Issues
THE SIERRA CLUB
CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY WRITERS GROUP
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Climate and America’s Migration Issues
CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY WRITERS GROUP
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Climate and America’s Migration Issues
Climate Change is driving migration throughout the world by demolishing homes, destroying harvests and disrupting local economies. The UN states that “An annual average of 21.5 million people have been forcibly displaced by weather-related sudden onset hazards – such as floods, storms, wildfires, extreme temperature – each year since 2008”. At the same time, immigration policy is an issue that is dividing America.
Join a discussion of this crucial issue!
6:00-7:30 PM - Crane Branch Library - 633 Elmwood at Highland
2nd Floor Meeting Room
Free and open to the public – writers and non-writers alike
billnowa@gmail.com for info
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Denial and 'Alternative Facts' haven’t stopped the Earth from Warming to Record-shattering Levels
We’re now breaking global temperature records once every three years
February 2016 was the warmest February in 136 years of Nasa’s modern
temperature records. Global temperature records were broken throughout
2016.
Photograph: GISS/NASA
According to NASA, in 2016 the Earth’s surface temperature shattered the previous record for hottest year set in 2015, which broke the previous record set in 2014, which in turn had broken the previous record set in 2005.
Global temperature wasn’t the only record-setter in 2016. Global warming causes climate change, and North America saw its highest number of storms and floods in over four decades. Globally, we saw over 1.5 times more extreme weather catastrophes in 2016 than the average over the past 30 years. Global sea ice cover plunged to a record low as well. California endured a fifth consecutive year of its worst drought in over a millennium. A drought also savaged the maize harvest in Southern Africa, causing a famine. The list of climate consequences goes on.
Read more at The Guardian
~ ~ ~
2016 was the warmest year in the 137-year series compiled by NOAA (graph, below). Sixteen of the 17 warmest years on record occurred in the consecutive years 2001 through 2016. The five warmest years have all occurred since 2010.
Thursday, August 4, 2016
We Need to Stop Dangerous Global Warming
By David Kowalski
Excess greenhouse gas in the atmosphere caused by burning fossil fuels - coal, oil, or natural gas - is now resulting in dangerous global warming. Fifteen of the sixteen warmest years have occurred since the year 2000. 2014 set a new record and 2015 topped it. 2016 is on track for even more extreme warming, with January through June showing record-breaking global temperatures (NASA graph, below).
Burning fossil fuels emits carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas that traps heat and is raising Earth’s temperature. Human-caused CO2 levels in the atmosphere are now about 40% greater than the highest levels detected in Nature in the past 650,000 years (NASA graph with annotations by D.K., below).
We are now in uncharted territory. Human activity, specifically the burning of fossil fuels, is generating more CO2 gas than Nature can absorb from the atmosphere.
The persistent accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere, which began with the Industrial Revolution, is raising the temperature of our planet. This is certainly cause for alarm, since rising global temperatures are impacting weather patterns, driving climate change and having dire consequences.
It’s Getting HOT in Here!
Nowhere is the fingerprint of climate change more evident than with extreme heat.
This year, summer got it's hottest start ever in three states: California, New Mexico and Arizona. Over 30 million people were under heat warnings or advisories. Record-shattering temperatures of 109° occurred in Los Angeles and 122° in Palm Springs. Tragically, on June 20th, six people died outdoors in 118° heat in Arizona. Between 600 and 1,500 heat-related deaths occur in an average summer in the U.S.
Heat waves last for days and are deadly. Severe heat waves in Europe in 2003 and Russia in 2010 resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. In 2015, thousands died in heat waves that occurred in India and Pakistan. A Chicago heat wave with temperatures up to 104° killed nearly 750 people in 1995. A California heat wave with temperatures as high as 119° caused up to 450 deaths in 2006.
A combination of heat and humidity (the Heat Index) that makes it feel like it’s 105° or hotter is termed a ‘danger day’. Warming temperatures are about to push U.S. cities into a new mode where danger days happen regularly. By 2030, 84 cities with nearly one-third of the U.S. population are projected to deal with at least 20 danger days annually if carbon emissions continue unabated. In the South, Miami is projected to have 126 danger days by 2030.
Buffalo is projected to have fewer danger days (6) by 2030, but the number will increase to 15 by 2050 if carbon emissions continue unabated. By 2030, Buffalo is projected to have 38 ‘extreme caution’ days, when the heat index tops 90°. The latter days are the greatest threat to children and the elderly, who are more sensitive to the heat, and to those in residences without air conditioning.
Cutting carbon emissions worldwide is vital to reducing the risk of heat-related death and illness.
Drought, Flooding, Wildfires and Extreme Weather
Higher temperatures increase the amount of moisture that evaporates from land and water, and have contributed to drought in some areas. At the same time, increased water vapor in the atmosphere caused by the elevated warming has resulted in heavy downpours in other areas.
Extreme events linked to global warming and predicted earlier by climate scientists are in fact occurring now around the world and here at home: unprecedented drought in California, destructive downpours and historic flooding in Texas and West Virginia, more intense hurricanes like Sandy in New York, and raging wildfires in the Southwest U.S. and in Canada.
Drought, flooding and excess heat threaten human health and safety. Such events can also cause crop destruction, food insecurity and human conflicts, threatening our ability to sustain life on this planet.
Ocean Warming, Ice Melting, and Sea-level Rise
Oceans, which cover 70% of our planet, are absorbing 93% of the excess heat of global warming. Hot ocean waters are bleaching and killing coral reefs, disrupting ecosystems that harbor fish, an important food source. Continued warming of oceans will increase melting of polar ice sheets, cause extensive sea level rise and flood coastal cities, including New York City and Miami. This would be catastrophic -- displacing large populations, causing unrest and costing trillions of dollars. Low-lying island nations face the threat of being swallowed by rising seas.
What Can YOU Do?
There is no doubt that global warming and climate change are happening now. We all need to take action locally to help end human-caused global warming.
It is essential that we push our governments at national, state and local levels adopt measures to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. Bold energy policies with mandates and timelines are urgently needed to shift to clean, renewable energy, increase energy efficiency, and cut carbon emissions that cause global warming.
Let your elected officials know that ending global warming pollution by transitioning to clean, renewable energy also presents real opportunities. It will not only stabilize the climate and energy prices, but also lead to good-paying jobs, healthier communities and a more just society.
And don't forget to Vote! Vote for candidates who seek to protect People and the Planet.
Get more informed and involved with activists in the Sierra Club Niagara Group through monthly Executive Committee meetings, presentations/discussions at a Writers Group, and a Climate & Energy Committee meeting (Email: NiagaraSierra@gmail.com)
Join one of the groups affiliated with the Climate Justice Coalition of Western New York, including faith groups, labor unions, social/economic justice groups, Working Families Party and others. For more information, Email ClimateJusticeBuffalo@gmail.com.
Request a presentation on Environmental Stewardship, Climate Change and Clean Energy Solutions for your group. Email ClimateJusticeBuffalo@gmail.com
Excess greenhouse gas in the atmosphere caused by burning fossil fuels - coal, oil, or natural gas - is now resulting in dangerous global warming. Fifteen of the sixteen warmest years have occurred since the year 2000. 2014 set a new record and 2015 topped it. 2016 is on track for even more extreme warming, with January through June showing record-breaking global temperatures (NASA graph, below).
[Click image to enlarge]
[Click image to enlarge]
The persistent accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere, which began with the Industrial Revolution, is raising the temperature of our planet. This is certainly cause for alarm, since rising global temperatures are impacting weather patterns, driving climate change and having dire consequences.
It’s Getting HOT in Here!
Nowhere is the fingerprint of climate change more evident than with extreme heat.
This year, summer got it's hottest start ever in three states: California, New Mexico and Arizona. Over 30 million people were under heat warnings or advisories. Record-shattering temperatures of 109° occurred in Los Angeles and 122° in Palm Springs. Tragically, on June 20th, six people died outdoors in 118° heat in Arizona. Between 600 and 1,500 heat-related deaths occur in an average summer in the U.S.
Heat waves last for days and are deadly. Severe heat waves in Europe in 2003 and Russia in 2010 resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. In 2015, thousands died in heat waves that occurred in India and Pakistan. A Chicago heat wave with temperatures up to 104° killed nearly 750 people in 1995. A California heat wave with temperatures as high as 119° caused up to 450 deaths in 2006.
A combination of heat and humidity (the Heat Index) that makes it feel like it’s 105° or hotter is termed a ‘danger day’. Warming temperatures are about to push U.S. cities into a new mode where danger days happen regularly. By 2030, 84 cities with nearly one-third of the U.S. population are projected to deal with at least 20 danger days annually if carbon emissions continue unabated. In the South, Miami is projected to have 126 danger days by 2030.
Buffalo is projected to have fewer danger days (6) by 2030, but the number will increase to 15 by 2050 if carbon emissions continue unabated. By 2030, Buffalo is projected to have 38 ‘extreme caution’ days, when the heat index tops 90°. The latter days are the greatest threat to children and the elderly, who are more sensitive to the heat, and to those in residences without air conditioning.
Cutting carbon emissions worldwide is vital to reducing the risk of heat-related death and illness.
Drought, Flooding, Wildfires and Extreme Weather
Higher temperatures increase the amount of moisture that evaporates from land and water, and have contributed to drought in some areas. At the same time, increased water vapor in the atmosphere caused by the elevated warming has resulted in heavy downpours in other areas.
Extreme events linked to global warming and predicted earlier by climate scientists are in fact occurring now around the world and here at home: unprecedented drought in California, destructive downpours and historic flooding in Texas and West Virginia, more intense hurricanes like Sandy in New York, and raging wildfires in the Southwest U.S. and in Canada.
Drought, flooding and excess heat threaten human health and safety. Such events can also cause crop destruction, food insecurity and human conflicts, threatening our ability to sustain life on this planet.
Ocean Warming, Ice Melting, and Sea-level Rise
Oceans, which cover 70% of our planet, are absorbing 93% of the excess heat of global warming. Hot ocean waters are bleaching and killing coral reefs, disrupting ecosystems that harbor fish, an important food source. Continued warming of oceans will increase melting of polar ice sheets, cause extensive sea level rise and flood coastal cities, including New York City and Miami. This would be catastrophic -- displacing large populations, causing unrest and costing trillions of dollars. Low-lying island nations face the threat of being swallowed by rising seas.
What Can YOU Do?
There is no doubt that global warming and climate change are happening now. We all need to take action locally to help end human-caused global warming.
It is essential that we push our governments at national, state and local levels adopt measures to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. Bold energy policies with mandates and timelines are urgently needed to shift to clean, renewable energy, increase energy efficiency, and cut carbon emissions that cause global warming.
Let your elected officials know that ending global warming pollution by transitioning to clean, renewable energy also presents real opportunities. It will not only stabilize the climate and energy prices, but also lead to good-paying jobs, healthier communities and a more just society.
And don't forget to Vote! Vote for candidates who seek to protect People and the Planet.
Get more informed and involved with activists in the Sierra Club Niagara Group through monthly Executive Committee meetings, presentations/discussions at a Writers Group, and a Climate & Energy Committee meeting (Email: NiagaraSierra@gmail.com)
Join one of the groups affiliated with the Climate Justice Coalition of Western New York, including faith groups, labor unions, social/economic justice groups, Working Families Party and others. For more information, Email ClimateJusticeBuffalo@gmail.com.
Request a presentation on Environmental Stewardship, Climate Change and Clean Energy Solutions for your group. Email ClimateJusticeBuffalo@gmail.com
Monday, April 13, 2015
Climate Change NEWS
‘An Era Of Extreme Weather': Report Shows Big Weather Events Cost U.S. $19 Billion In 2014
Those events — which included historic drought, flooding, and storms — affected 35 states in total. In the last four years, the report found, extreme weather events across the United States caused 1,286 fatalities and $227 billion in economic losses across 44 states.
Read the article at Think Progress
California’s Next Megadrought Has Already Begun
As California limps through another nearly rain-free rainy season, the state is taking increasingly bold action to save water.
Article by Eric Holthaus in Slate
The Number of Sea Lions Washing Up on Californian Shores Is Higher Than Ever
Rising sea temperatures mean less food for the mammals.
Report in TIME
Church Should Lead, Not Follow on Climate Justice
As people of faith, we are called to be the rock of the climate justice movement, the solid rock of hope that remains strong on the darkest days.
Article by Tim DeChristopher in the Harvard Divinity Bulletin
Energy Bombshell: CO2 Emissions Stabilized in 2014
Solar, wind and other renewables are making such a big difference in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide that global emissions from the energy sector flatlined during a time of economic growth for the first time in 40 years.
Read the article at Climate Central
This conservative group is tired of being accused of climate denial — and is fighting back
Facing a loss of high-profile corporate sponsors, a conservative state-level policy group — the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — threatened action in recent weeks against activist groups that accuse it of denying climate change.
Report in the Washington Post
What will happen after people stop ignoring the evidence on climate change
It’s possible that we’re living through a moment that will later be remembered as a key marker in the decline of climate change doubt as a whole.
Article in the Washington Post
Those events — which included historic drought, flooding, and storms — affected 35 states in total. In the last four years, the report found, extreme weather events across the United States caused 1,286 fatalities and $227 billion in economic losses across 44 states.
Read the article at Think Progress
California’s Next Megadrought Has Already Begun
As California limps through another nearly rain-free rainy season, the state is taking increasingly bold action to save water.
Article by Eric Holthaus in Slate
 |
| Editorial cartoon by Adam Zyglis in The Buffalo News |
The Number of Sea Lions Washing Up on Californian Shores Is Higher Than Ever
Rising sea temperatures mean less food for the mammals.
Report in TIME
Church Should Lead, Not Follow on Climate Justice
As people of faith, we are called to be the rock of the climate justice movement, the solid rock of hope that remains strong on the darkest days.
Article by Tim DeChristopher in the Harvard Divinity Bulletin
Energy Bombshell: CO2 Emissions Stabilized in 2014
Solar, wind and other renewables are making such a big difference in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide that global emissions from the energy sector flatlined during a time of economic growth for the first time in 40 years.
Read the article at Climate Central
This conservative group is tired of being accused of climate denial — and is fighting back
Facing a loss of high-profile corporate sponsors, a conservative state-level policy group — the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — threatened action in recent weeks against activist groups that accuse it of denying climate change.
Report in the Washington Post
What will happen after people stop ignoring the evidence on climate change
It’s possible that we’re living through a moment that will later be remembered as a key marker in the decline of climate change doubt as a whole.
Article in the Washington Post
Monday, October 21, 2013
VIDEO: True Climate Stories
This is just a movie, but climate change is very real. We’re already seeing the impacts all around us with more intense wildfires, droughts, floods, and extreme weather events. And scientists tell us if we don’t take action, things are only going to get worse.
It doesn’t have to be this way. We already have many of the solutions we need to solve the climate crisis and we’re developing new technologies every year. By taking action together, and pressuring our politicians to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and push for real climate action, we can help prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
Climate change is a true story, but the ending is up to us.
~ ~ ~
Remember the impacts of Superstorm Sandy in New York City, New Jersey and elsewhere?
Learn about impacts of climate change in Western
New York. Attend a film screening of "Comfort Zone" on Tuesday, October 29 at 7:00pm.
For more information, Click Here.
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